Why the Hype?
February 1st, 2006 at 3:01 pm by Preston Taylor HolmesSome of our more astute boots-on-the-ground in Iraq are questioning the hyper-coverage of ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff’s run-in with an IED in Iraq. I’m glad someone’s finally said it.
In Iraq, and throughout the military, there is sympathy and concern for anchor Bob Woodruff and cameraman Doug Vogt, but there is also this question:
“Why do you think this is such a huge story?” wrote an officer stationed in Baqubah, Iraq, Monday via e-mail. “It’s a bit stunning to us over here how absolutely dominant the story is on every network and front page. I mean, you’d think we lost the entire 1st Marine Division or something.
“There’s a lot of grumbling from guys at all ranks about it. That’s a really impolite and impolitic thing to say … but it’s what you would hear over here.”
At least 2,242 troops have died in Iraq since the war’s start, 1,753 of them killed in action. Another 16,000 have been injured, half of them seriously enough to require evacuation from the battlefield. According to the Pentagon, 60 percent of the deaths are the result of IEDs. IEDs have injured more than 9,200 troops, nine times more than gunshots.
“The point that is currently being made (is that) that press folks are more important than mere military folks,” a senior military officer told UPI Tuesday.
The loss of any member of our military is of far more importance than the loss of a journalist. Don’t get me wrong, I hope that Woodruff and his cameraman both fully recover, but let’s be frank, journalists are a dime-a-dozen.
The only reason this story gets so much attention is because there’s nothing the media loves more than itself. Anytime the media has the opportunity to point out how brave they are and how difficult their job is, you can bet your sweet ass you’ll be hearing about it in big bold headlines and at the beginning of every nightly newscast.
February 1st, 2006 at 4:18 pm
ABC’s Woodruff, Vogt Bound For U.S.
ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff and cameraman Doug Vogt left Germany on a military plane bound for the
February 1st, 2006 at 4:24 pm
Excellent point. Excellent post.
February 1st, 2006 at 4:43 pm
It’s a matter of extremes, isn’t it? TV media are every bit as narcissistic as expeceted (Woodruff sure is/was pretty, isn’t/wasn’t he?).
On the other hand, there sure are a lot of people over here who don’t give much daily thought to us being at war over there.
It should probably be a bigger deal to note when our men and women in uniform come home on a stretcher or in a bag. We ask them to sacrifice everything, while we take them a bit too much for granted.
February 1st, 2006 at 5:03 pm
No, Holmes…
I love ME more than anything itself! I am the face of the war media. Don’t ever forget that!
February 1st, 2006 at 5:22 pm
Imagine the irony if it had been Mike Wallace. And if a soldier had seen the IED but had not told Wallace about it.
February 1st, 2006 at 6:57 pm
Lee – heh!
You know why all the coverage? It’s those piercing blue eyes, that powerful jawline.
Damn, that’s good TV!
February 1st, 2006 at 11:37 pm
Outstanding!
February 2nd, 2006 at 1:28 am
I’ve always thought that a new(sic) person on the battle field was between me and the enemy (or part and party to the enemy)and should be removed and that is my recommendation to all the guys and gals in the field. Accidents do happen…22 years in the military and that’s my opinion, yea.